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Sarah Grimke's rhetoric for empowerment : her life and lettersHamilton, Susan E. Maier 01 May 1992 (has links)
In twentieth century America, women continue the age-old struggle for recognition
as whole, intelligent individuals, not just an "other," less hearty, less deserving
or less capable being than man. Sarah Grimke spoke of the inequalities over 150 years
ago during the abolitionist movement when she compiled her major arguments into a
series of letters originally published individually in the New England Spectator, then
as a volume in 1838 entitled Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of
Woman. Grimke gets to the core of the matter and dares to challenge long-standing
patriarchal tradition and beliefs.
Feminists have since tried to categorize her ideas into a particular philosophy,
giving her credit as the first American feminist. However, the difficulty lies in labeling
her from a twentieth century perspective (feminism) when her intent was to be
heard as an individualshe wanted to break the barriers which categorizing creates.
The strength of the Letters lies in their rhetorical soundness as an art which speaks
profoundly to its audience, transcending the boundaries of time.
This study focuses on the rhetorical soundness of the Letters, providing a close
analysis, that reveals Sarah Grimke's rhetorical methods, and her reaffirmation of
classical notions of rhetoric. The study also contextualizes the letters while answering
the critical question: Why should we read the letters now, in the twentieth century
when slavery is an issue long since resolved and women have been given the right to
vote and have been assured of equal rights under the equal rights amendment? We
must read primary texts, not secondary or interpretive texts, to experience the
author's rhetoric and recapture her intentions. / Graduation date: 1992
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An examination of the life and thought of Zina Fay Peirce, an American reformer and feministAtkinson, Norma P. January 1984 (has links)
Zina ray Peirce (1336-1923), the first wife of Cnarles S. Peirce, America’s great philosopher, was a woman who devoted her life to cause of improving the position of women in America. This study examines her specific accomplishments as a reformer; attitudes about women in nineteenth-century America and the effect such attitudes had on a woman of strong intellect and character; and the influence that she and her husband had on each other.Her early and conditioned interest was to promote the idea of freeing women from domestic drudgery so that they could pursue their own talents and make themselves economically and politically independent. Although not a suffragist or a believer in the equality of the sexes, she believed that women had their own spheres of abilities and interests, as men did. Therefore, she promoted the concepts of cooperative housekeeping and of women voting for other women to represent them in a separate legislative body. The first of these ideas led to the establishment of a cooperative laundry in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1870; the second, to her participation in a Woman’s Parliament which met in New York City in 1869. Both of these endeavors are examined at length, as are her views on abolition, marriage, immigration, education, and sexual mores.The sources of information include numerous letters which she wrote; letters written by others about her; and her published works, which include a novel, pamphlets, and journal and newspaper articles.
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